Why is spanish so popular in...
I live in floirida, and have noticed that much of our school speaks spanish, and I am wondering... WHY?!?!
4 Answers
Uhmm... I wonder whether the fact that Florida is so close to Cuba and Mexico could be of influence... 
The percentage of Hispanic population in Florida is very high. Also notice that Florida was Spanish territory for many many years and after it become English there were always Cuban and Spanish immigrants coming over. If you walk by Ybor City in Tampa or Coral Gables in Miami you will be able to see the Spanish heritage in its architecture, name of the streets, etc. Also remember Saint Augustine is the oldest city in the Nation and it was founded by the Spaniards. Even the name of Florida is Spanish, meaning full of flowers.
The percentage of Hispanic population in Florida is very high. Also notice that Florida was Spanish territory for many many years and after it become English there were always Cuban and Spanish immigrants coming over. If you walk by Ybor City in Tampa or Coral Gables in Miami you will be able to see the Spanish heritage in its architecture, name of the streets, etc. Also remember Saint Augustine is the oldest city in the Nation and it was founded by the Spaniards. Even the name of Florida is Spanish, meaning full of flowers.
That is a great answer! Florida was indeed colonized by Spain shortly after the British came, and, I believe, slightly before the French colonized the Western continent. That is just one reason. It does have Hispanic neighbors, and deep history of Spain and Mexico.
Of course, it could just be that Hispanics have been the major immigrant population lately. I would even go as far as to say that this may be like the Chinese in the 1930s. I'm from Illinois and it seems like I need to learn Spanish to walk down the street! I'm just thankful for the Hispanics that know moderate English when I don't know a lot of Spanish!
More than a quarter of people in Florida are of Hispanic descent, so it's only natural that the anglophones and hispanohablantes learn to use each other's languages to communicate with one another. As pointed out earlier, more than half of them were there before the English speaking families, so to still consider them immigrants would mean you'd have to call every non-Native-American in America an immigrant.. which would be pretty silly.
